# Lindley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/lindley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 10,260 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,482 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 30,092 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.1% (10,053 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Two possible origins: * The places in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire are named with Old English līn (“flax”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), with epenthetic -d-. Equivalent to line + -ley (“lea”). * The deserted medieval village in Leicestershire is named with Old English lind (“lime tree”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”). Equivalent to lind + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Lindley in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Lindley in the United States, Peru, the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

## People named Lindley

- Nicolás Lindley López, 48th President of Peru (1908-1995)
- Alfred Lindley, American rower (1904–1951)
- David Lindley, American musician (1944–2023)
- Audra Lindley, American actress (1918-1997)
- Eve Lindley, American actress
- William Heerlein Lindley, British civil engineer (1853–1917)
- Lindsay Lindley, American-born Nigerian sprinter
- John Lindley, American cinematographer

## Similar surnames

Lindell, Lindahl, Lindholm, Lundell, Lowenthal.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.